The original vinyl was mastered by the best in the business, Robert Ludwig, and was pressed on audiophile vinyl. It’s one of the best sounding albums I’ve ever heard.
Just to clear up any mysteries, it came often in the translucent purple but some pressings were amber and sometimes dark green. But the special ingredient certainly came from Robert Ludwig. You'll see carefully in the etching "Masterdisk" with RL next to it. I think when the album got big and more pressings were issued, they stopped with the translucent pressings and went for the traditional black vinyl. I own the black and white cover before they added the swipe effect and colors and I own the bronze, gold and brown cover before it became the red, blue and yellow variation.
The Police are one of my favorite bands. All their releases are top notch! This one might be their “Sgt Pepper Album” or “Magnum Opus” but my personal favorite from them has to be Regatta De Blanc. Great comparison video.
I took your advice and looked on eBay for a good vinyl pressing of "The Police - Synchronicity". There were lots of them on there varying in different states of use and wear starting around 50 bucks to 125.00 and up. There was this one particular LP pressed in 1983, first year pressings, same color and picture order as yours, that was brand new, still in the shrink wrap and even had the yellow sticker on it that said "The Police Winner of 4 grammys..." This guy just wanted 45 bucks so I put it on my watch list and when I checked back in about 30 minutes the seller gave me an offer for 40 bucks with free delivery, so I said to myself, what the heck and bought it. You were right, I got the MFSL ULTRADISC 24K Gold CD and IMHO, the 1983 Vinyl LP sounds better! The bass is much more present and solid and the balance of the sound quality is just easier on the ears. This 1983 new pressing is 100% quiet, no tics and no pops an audiophile pressing as far as I'm concerned. I've read that the 1983 pressing is the best version of this album period, bar-none and the sound quality has never been reproduced to this day no matter in what medium! So thank you, it's this video that had me look for and find/buy this great LP. Love your channel, you never disappoint!
Randomly stumbled onto this. Great review style. You describe what impact the sound presentation (quality) had on you with heart and soul without getting into audiophile snobbery. Keep it up man!
Hi TJ, I have a 1983 Canadian edition with the purple colour light but the vinyl is like one step up from a flexi disc from back in the day. It is in a single sleeve with a top opening which is also very flimsy. I also have the 2019 6cd boxset so today I synchronised (see what I did there) the vinyl and CD and I have to go with the CD. I have a good to very good system and headphones and listened to both and the vinyl was abysmal. It sounded dull and lifeless and very low in volumn, so low infact when I would switch over to the CD I nearly blew the roof off. The CD box is terrific but it does not have any booklet so the only bit of information is on the hype sticker that states it was remastered at Abbey Road but does not say by who. So if anybody knows let me know. PS the box set contains the 5 studio albums + a 12 track disc of b sides etc. I got mine for €20. All round excellent..
I have a VG+ copy of the first UK pressing that includes a merchandise inner but mine isn't purple when held up to the light sadly. Terrific sounding pressing but I would say that the recent half speed remastered Abbey Road tracks included on the Greatest Hits do sound even better especially 'Synchronicity 2'. Worth checking out that vinyl compilation.
That purple Vinyl is called "Quiex". It is a higher grade of vinyl purity. There were other albums pressed with this vinyl, without announcement. Joe Jacksons 'Body and Soul' comes to mind.
I have the most recent remastered cds which all came in a clamshell box, I think that would be a better comparison with the album. The box is quite affordable and the cds even sound better than the 2003 remasters
Well, guess what?!? I had heard this before about the translucent vinyl, but never paid it any mind until I watched your video. I bought my copy new at my favorite old record store (long since gone( Inner Sanctum) in Austin, when it was first released. I did the same tests you did with several 80's albums. They were all black and not translucent, until I got to Synchronicity. It's translucent purple!!! Like you, I have never done this before and dont know exactly what to make of it. The other unique thing I have heard about this album is that the 3 color bands on the album cover are in different locations. Mine is, from top to bottom, red, yellow, blue. I have never seen a varient of this. Enjoyed the video. Thanks for posting. Now I'm gonna go play it.
I just remembered about vinyl is naturally Translucent and color (usually black) is added to vinyl. To my knowledge the color of vinyl that is added has no affect. .... but 100% RAW Virgin HIGH GRADE Vinyl can make some difference. in All likelihood the sound difference comes from the Mastering and/or the facility where they were pressed.
There are many factors that determine the quality of a LP or CD ... There is not a single place that press all the LP's for album. US is a large county and back in the day's copy Master tapes where send to several location to press albums for a large release. So it's a bit luck if you have a exceptional good version. CD's are more equal but it depends how it was mastered for CD. Later releases might have high levels / more compression.
Yes. I should have brought that up. While it wasn’t relevant to the differences between how the two sounded, I should have mentioned when notating he physical differences between the two. Thanks for the heads up.
I was offered 3 Pressing machines from a small company in 1990 San Benito Texas. He told me aside from 'mastering' only having a HIGH Quality Vinyl can really affect making some difference. (who knows about seeing through that vinyl.) 2nd Records got thiner because of OPEC cost in the early 70s. Then Companies realized they could make more money by keeping the records thinner. (that's my take anyway.)
I got that LP when it first came out (USA, 1983). It has a sticker on it it about vinyl purity. And it is indeed amber/translucent. Most non-UHQR MoFi's are translucent, too. Many A&M records were translucent. I also have Synchronicity on orig and remastered CD. I think the vinyl is the best. But that has more to do with mastering than digital vs analog.
Tel dec 569 virgin vinyl was used on some A&M releases. I’ve got two police albums pressed by Nautilus that use it. The original 83 regular press of Sync is purple when I hold mine up. My mom bought it that year when I was 5 and I still have it today.
The only thing I know about these pressings is that they used something called KC-600 vinyl. Supposedly a better quality material that was used mostly by A&M releases. I wonder if it really is superior to regular plastics used in the 80's....
Well I'll be darned! I held my vinyl original copy, and in great condition, of Synchronicity up to the light and it is definitely a translucent purple. It's always sounded great (not just great, but perfect!) and now I know why. I never knew. Thanks for your video! I have the red, yellow, blue album cover variant.
on the BMG/Columbia deal, yes there is some difference, they were produced by them, and not the original record company (more so with BMG less with Columbia) They would do their own 'master' basically. I've compared a lot of CDs that were company pressed compared to BMG there are different time breaks for CD tracks, and some slight variations (though much better than their tapes and records which are considerably worse)
The only translucent records I have are all or related to the Pye Label, Status Quo , Dog of two head and also 2 Elton John albums Goodbye yellow brick rd and Captain Fantastic .
Same thing happened to me in the past year. I found a copy of Synchronicity at a used book store for $20 and then found out original pressings were translucent purple. I held mine up and sure enough, translucent purple. I found out it was on something called Quiex vinyl. I found three other albums in my collection on amber Quiex. The Magazine by Rickie Lee Jones,Slow Turning by John Hiatt and Solitude Standing by Suzanne Vega. Rickie Lee is on Warner and all the others are A&M.
Many releases by A&M or MCA records used virgin vinyl. Many of my lps on these labels released in the 80s have different color when placed to a light source.
I have the translucent purple vinyl Synchronicity mastered by Robert Ludwig, and the Mobile Fidelity gold CD. There's no contest, the vinyl sounds amazing.
I have the translucent purple pressing and it’s in pristine condition. Sounds absolutely fantastic. The half speed mastering from Abbey Road is digital. I have one of those pressings as well. I use it as deco in a record frame because the sound quality doesn’t hold a candle to my original. Not even close. I bought the half speed remaster, thinking it would be an improvement over the original and my curiosity got the better of me. Needless to say I was disappointed with it but didn’t wanna go through the hassle of returning for a refund.
Maybe you could do a video where you show what audio equipment you use for these comparisons. Also, how you go about comparing the records and cds. Thanks.
@@TJRtheOriginal I found that some super high quality virgin vinyl was made to be an amber color, it was intentional so people knew what they purchased just by shining a light over it
Run the cd through a 24 bit DA converter and it sounds pretty close. The album of course has more deep bass but the CD has more clarity. PS the 1/2 speeds came from a digital source and do not have the same thickness the original does.
I always thought the Message in a Box CD set sounded kind of flat so that is just how I thought their stuff was supposed to sound. I recently played the vinyl copy of this album and there is no doubt it is WAY better!
I think there was a red version too to match the three colours on the cover. It is the same as the quiex pressings, which were something like a super vinyl formula. The only one I have like that is an original uk pressing of yellow brick road and it sounds great.
Interesting. If I have to choose a side to listen to first, it’s always side 1. I like side two, but I think because so many of the songs on side 2 got played to death back in the day. So I think I just tend to lean to side 1 more for that reason.
Okay, I'm gonna half to pull out my 80's copy and see if it's translucent. But that aside, my vinyl copy has the cover oriented vertically but I see your cd has it oriented horizontally. What's up with that?
Ha! I went and checked and I have the purple one. I bought it at K-Mart or somewhere like that when it came out and I always hated it because it skipped in a couple spots on side one. I never got rid of it but I was certainly never happy with it.
I just checked my U.S. vinyl copy of Synchronicity, and the only things that objectively indicates a difference in vinyl is the translucent purple color and a 3 or 4” hype sticker that mentions the hit at the time, Every Breath You Take, and the songs Wrapped Around Your Finger, King Of Pain, and Synchronicity I & II. Below in small font is the mention that the record is pressed on high quality audiophile vinyl, KC-600, almost as an afterthought. I then checked earlier album but this appears to be the only one (I don’t have Ghost In A Machine). I also checked the 4 song promo 12” copy of Every Breath You Take, which also has a live version of the same song and the non-LP Murder By Numbers & someone To Talk To (written by Andy Summers), and although there does n’t appear to be a mention of it anywhere it is the same translucent color, and of course sounds like, although one would have expected that given there were only 4 songs on the EP. It appears the audiophile pressings vinyl of Quiex II are at least with my collection such as a couple Neil Young albums, Asia - Alpha, The Who - It’s Hard, George Harrison - Gone Troppo, are all Promotional Copies, and if they were not promos like my Pretenders - Learning To Crawl, or Joni Mitchell’s - Wild Things Run Fast, which came out as promos in Quiex II, but I bought non-promos of, well they were not translucent. By the way, the reported “early”Elton John records were in indeed somewhat early if they were translucent, but oddly only the UK copies I had such as Madman Across The Water UK copy, but not my US (Uni) copy. All copies after 1975 seemed regular black be they US or Uk. The UK Dick James (DJM label) seemed to be translucent as late as the Caribou LP in 1974. Don’t have a UK copy of Captain Fantastic to check it.
This is nonsensical. You’re comparing apples to oranges. You’re essentially comparing turntable/tone arm/cartridge/phono preamp to a CD player, not the two formats.
I have to wonder if you can still make a true audiophile copy of this album. A&M Records was acquired by Universal music long ago....and they had a massive fire where thousands upon thousands of masters went up in smoke. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Universal_Studios_fire
May I say though, that in general The Police recordings are absolutely incredible and all their studio albums are audiophile grade sound. No doubt.
The original vinyl was mastered by the best in the business, Robert Ludwig, and was pressed on audiophile vinyl. It’s one of the best sounding albums I’ve ever heard.
I totally agree...you really hear the punch and emotion when Stewart comes in on Synchronicity I.
@@ConglomerationCat and Sting’s bass on Wrapped Around Your Finger
@@SoundlabStudios63 Yes, most definitely.....
Just to clear up any mysteries, it came often in the translucent purple but some pressings were amber and sometimes dark green. But the special ingredient certainly came from Robert Ludwig. You'll see carefully in the etching "Masterdisk" with RL next to it. I think when the album got big and more pressings were issued, they stopped with the translucent pressings and went for the traditional black vinyl. I own the black and white cover before they added the swipe effect and colors and I own the bronze, gold and brown cover before it became the red, blue and yellow variation.
The Police are one of my favorite bands. All their releases are top notch! This one might be their “Sgt Pepper Album” or “Magnum Opus” but my personal favorite from them has to be Regatta De Blanc. Great comparison video.
Love these comparisons because a lot comes down to the mastering choices. :)
I took your advice and looked on eBay for a good vinyl pressing of "The Police - Synchronicity". There were lots of them on there varying in different states of use and wear starting around 50 bucks to 125.00 and up. There was this one particular LP pressed in 1983, first year pressings, same color and picture order as yours, that was brand new, still in the shrink wrap and even had the yellow sticker on it that said "The Police Winner of 4 grammys..." This guy just wanted 45 bucks so I put it on my watch list and when I checked back in about 30 minutes the seller gave me an offer for 40 bucks with free delivery, so I said to myself, what the heck and bought it. You were right, I got the MFSL ULTRADISC 24K Gold CD and IMHO, the 1983 Vinyl LP sounds better! The bass is much more present and solid and the balance of the sound quality is just easier on the ears. This 1983 new pressing is 100% quiet, no tics and no pops an audiophile pressing as far as I'm concerned. I've read that the 1983 pressing is the best version of this album period, bar-none and the sound quality has never been reproduced to this day no matter in what medium! So thank you, it's this video that had me look for and find/buy this great LP. Love your channel, you never disappoint!
Thanks. Glad you could find that copy.
Randomly stumbled onto this. Great review style. You describe what impact the sound presentation (quality) had on you with heart and soul without getting into audiophile snobbery. Keep it up man!
Awesome, thank you!
UK version on vinyl 1983 is the best
Hi TJ, I have a 1983 Canadian edition with the purple colour light but the vinyl is like one step up from a flexi disc from back in the day. It is in a single sleeve with a top opening which is also very flimsy. I also have the 2019 6cd boxset so today I synchronised (see what I did there) the vinyl and CD and I have to go with the CD. I have a good to very good system and headphones and listened to both and the vinyl was abysmal. It sounded dull and lifeless and very low in volumn, so low infact when I would switch over to the CD I nearly blew the roof off. The CD box is terrific but it does not have any booklet so the only bit of information is on the hype sticker that states it was remastered at Abbey Road but does not say by who. So if anybody knows let me know. PS the box set contains the 5 studio albums + a 12 track disc of b sides etc. I got mine for €20. All round excellent..
I have a VG+ copy of the first UK pressing that includes a merchandise inner but mine isn't purple when held up to the light sadly. Terrific sounding pressing but I would say that the recent half speed remastered Abbey Road tracks included on the Greatest Hits do sound even better especially 'Synchronicity 2'. Worth checking out that vinyl compilation.
That purple Vinyl is called "Quiex". It is a higher grade of vinyl purity. There were other albums pressed with this vinyl, without announcement. Joe Jacksons 'Body and Soul' comes to mind.
I have the most recent remastered cds which all came in a clamshell box, I think that would be a better comparison with the album. The box is quite affordable and the cds even sound better than the 2003 remasters
Well, guess what?!? I had heard this before about the translucent vinyl, but never paid it any mind until I watched your video. I bought my copy new at my favorite old record store (long since gone( Inner Sanctum) in Austin, when it was first released. I did the same tests you did with several 80's albums. They were all black and not translucent, until I got to Synchronicity. It's translucent purple!!! Like you, I have never done this before and dont know exactly what to make of it. The other unique thing I have heard about this album is that the 3 color bands on the album cover are in different locations. Mine is, from top to bottom, red, yellow, blue. I have never seen a varient of this. Enjoyed the video. Thanks for posting. Now I'm gonna go play it.
I just remembered about vinyl is naturally Translucent and color (usually black) is added to vinyl. To my knowledge the color of vinyl that is added has no affect.
.... but 100% RAW Virgin HIGH GRADE Vinyl can make some difference.
in All likelihood the sound difference comes from the Mastering and/or the facility where they were pressed.
There are many factors that determine the quality of a LP or CD ... There is not a single place that press all the LP's for album. US is a large county and back in the day's copy Master tapes where send to several location to press albums for a large release. So it's a bit luck if you have a exceptional good version. CD's are more equal but it depends how it was mastered for CD. Later releases might have high levels / more compression.
You forgot to mention that there is an extra bonus track on the CD that was not on the Vinyl release Murder By Numbers 👍
Yes. I should have brought that up. While it wasn’t relevant to the differences between how the two sounded, I should have mentioned when notating he physical differences between the two. Thanks for the heads up.
@@TJRtheOriginal Anytime keep up the good work on here .👍👍
I was offered 3 Pressing machines from a small company in 1990 San Benito Texas. He told me aside from 'mastering' only having a HIGH Quality Vinyl can really affect making some difference. (who knows about seeing through that vinyl.)
2nd Records got thiner because of OPEC cost in the early 70s. Then Companies realized they could make more money by keeping the records thinner. (that's my take anyway.)
I got that LP when it first came out (USA, 1983). It has a sticker on it it about vinyl purity. And it is indeed amber/translucent. Most non-UHQR MoFi's are translucent, too. Many A&M records were translucent. I also have Synchronicity on orig and remastered CD. I think the vinyl is the best. But that has more to do with mastering than digital vs analog.
Tel dec 569 virgin vinyl was used on some A&M releases. I’ve got two police albums pressed by Nautilus that use it. The original 83 regular press of Sync is purple when I hold mine up. My mom bought it that year when I was 5 and I still have it today.
The only thing I know about these pressings is that they used something called KC-600 vinyl. Supposedly a better quality material that was used mostly by A&M releases. I wonder if it really is superior to regular plastics used in the 80's....
Well I'll be darned! I held my vinyl original copy, and in great condition, of Synchronicity up to the light and it is definitely a translucent purple. It's always sounded great (not just great, but perfect!) and now I know why. I never knew. Thanks for your video! I have the red, yellow, blue album cover variant.
on the BMG/Columbia deal, yes there is some difference, they were produced by them, and not the original record company (more so with BMG less with Columbia) They would do their own 'master' basically. I've compared a lot of CDs that were company pressed compared to BMG there are different time breaks for CD tracks, and some slight variations (though much better than their tapes and records which are considerably worse)
Thanks for that info 👍
The only translucent records I have are all or related to the Pye Label, Status Quo , Dog of two head and also 2 Elton John albums Goodbye yellow brick rd and Captain Fantastic .
Same thing happened to me in the past year. I found a copy of Synchronicity at a used book store for $20 and then found out original pressings were translucent purple. I held mine up and sure enough, translucent purple. I found out it was on something called Quiex vinyl. I found three other albums in my collection on amber Quiex. The Magazine by Rickie Lee Jones,Slow Turning by John Hiatt and Solitude Standing by Suzanne Vega. Rickie Lee is on Warner and all the others are A&M.
Many releases by A&M or MCA records used virgin vinyl. Many of my lps on these labels released in the 80s have different color when placed to a light source.
You earned a new sub. Thanks for the valuable information my new friend :)
Thank you, and welcome aboard!
I have the SACD version and sounds awesome but vinyl sound for me is more alive and enjoyable, both versions sounds excellent.
Right on!
I have the translucent purple vinyl Synchronicity mastered by Robert Ludwig, and the Mobile Fidelity gold CD. There's no contest, the vinyl sounds amazing.
I have the translucent purple pressing and it’s in pristine condition. Sounds absolutely fantastic. The half speed mastering from Abbey Road is digital. I have one of those pressings as well. I use it as deco in a record frame because the sound quality doesn’t hold a candle to my original. Not even close. I bought the half speed remaster, thinking it would be an improvement over the original and my curiosity got the better of me. Needless to say I was disappointed with it but didn’t wanna go through the hassle of returning for a refund.
Maybe you could do a video where you show what audio equipment you use for these comparisons. Also, how you go about comparing the records and cds. Thanks.
I wonder if age/environment could have changed the color to a more amber?
That’s a possibility. Thanks
@@TJRtheOriginal I found that some super high quality virgin vinyl was made to be an amber color, it was intentional so people knew what they purchased just by shining a light over it
Run the cd through a 24 bit DA converter and it sounds pretty close. The album of course has more deep bass but the CD has more clarity. PS the 1/2 speeds came from a digital source and do not have the same thickness the original does.
I always thought the Message in a Box CD set sounded kind of flat so that is just how I thought their stuff was supposed to sound. I recently played the vinyl copy of this album and there is no doubt it is WAY better!
A few of the early Elton John first pressings LPs were on translucent vinyl too. Check them out if you have any
Cool! Thanks for the info.
I think the most sought out one from those years was Captain Fantastic. It's of course translucent brown.
The older I get the more l can relisten with different ears and gain new respect for many artists.
I have found this to be very true.
I think there was a red version too to match the three colours on the cover. It is the same as the quiex pressings, which were something like a super vinyl formula. The only one I have like that is an original uk pressing of yellow brick road and it sounds great.
that would make sense. mine appears amber too.
Check out the MANY different sleeve variations of the Synch covers!!!! > ruclips.net/video/IlcBHLAGekM/видео.html
I have the purple one I've never heard of another color kinda cool good video! Try the Japanize SHM cd it sounds great!
That Brian Seltzer album is awesome!
I liked it!
mine’s amber too
Cool! Thanks for sharing that.
5:34 anything to praise vinyl 😂 "spacial quality"
I’ve always found Side 1 of “Synchronicity” to be almost unlistenable while Side 2 is a rock masterpiece. Sounds odd, I know.
Interesting. If I have to choose a side to listen to first, it’s always side 1. I like side two, but I think because so many of the songs on side 2 got played to death back in the day. So I think I just tend to lean to side 1 more for that reason.
Okay, I'm gonna half to pull out my 80's copy and see if it's translucent. But that aside, my vinyl copy has the cover oriented vertically but I see your cd has it oriented horizontally. What's up with that?
Ha! I went and checked and I have the purple one. I bought it at K-Mart or somewhere like that when it came out and I always hated it because it skipped in a couple spots on side one. I never got rid of it but I was certainly never happy with it.
I just checked my U.S. vinyl copy of Synchronicity, and the only things that objectively indicates a difference in vinyl is the translucent purple color and a 3 or 4” hype sticker that mentions the hit at the time, Every Breath You Take, and the songs Wrapped Around Your Finger, King Of Pain, and Synchronicity I & II. Below in small font is the mention that the record is pressed on high quality audiophile vinyl, KC-600, almost as an afterthought. I then checked earlier album but this appears to be the only one (I don’t have Ghost In A Machine). I also checked the 4 song promo 12” copy of Every Breath You Take, which also has a live version of the same song and the non-LP Murder By Numbers & someone To Talk To (written by Andy Summers), and although there does n’t appear to be a mention of it anywhere it is the same translucent color, and of course sounds like, although one would have expected that given there were only 4 songs on the EP. It appears the audiophile pressings vinyl of Quiex II are at least with my collection such as a couple Neil Young albums, Asia - Alpha, The Who - It’s Hard, George Harrison - Gone Troppo, are all Promotional Copies, and if they were not promos like my Pretenders - Learning To Crawl, or Joni Mitchell’s - Wild Things Run Fast, which came out as promos in Quiex II, but I bought non-promos of, well they were not translucent.
By the way, the reported “early”Elton John records were in indeed somewhat early if they were translucent, but oddly only the UK copies I had such as Madman Across The Water UK copy, but not my US (Uni) copy. All copies after 1975 seemed regular black be they US or Uk. The UK Dick James (DJM label) seemed to be translucent as late as the Caribou LP in 1974. Don’t have a UK copy of Captain Fantastic to check it.
CD and Cassete rule. Vinyl feels castrated.
I usually love your videos but unless I missed something, there was no CD comparison.
I did say that the LP was hands down better. I think also said it was “No contest”. Perhaps I needed to re iterate more conclusively at the end?
@@TJRtheOriginal I apologize, I must have been skipping around. I see the comparison now. I wonder how the vinyl holds up to the SACD version.
This is nonsensical. You’re comparing apples to oranges. You’re essentially comparing turntable/tone arm/cartridge/phono preamp to a CD player, not the two formats.
I have to wonder if you can still make a true audiophile copy of this album. A&M Records was acquired by Universal music long ago....and they had a massive fire where thousands upon thousands of masters went up in smoke. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Universal_Studios_fire